How do you create a connection with someone through storytelling?
Storytelling pushes someone to take action whether that be buying a product, making a change in their life or something as simple as adding their name to your email list.
The first thing you need to do is find a story that has an emotional impact on you – whether that be a great emotion, happy emotion, sad emotion, or whatever it happens to be. It just needs to be emotionally charged. If it isn’t, then it is going to be a bland story and no one is going to want to listen to you. Having an impact on your audience is key!
There are three concepts when creating your story structure that will really grab the attention of your audience:
Concept #1: Start with a conflict. A lot of people like to start with all of the things that lead up to the conflict and end up losing the audience. Instead, start with the conflict in the story and you’ll be able to get their attention right away. After, you can talk about what happened before and after the conflict and then end with the resolution.
Concept #2: Your story does not have to relate directly to your product or service on the surface. A lot of people get stuck and think their story has to relate to the product they’re trying to sell, or the concept they’re trying to reach. It doesn’t have to relate 100%. You can always bridge the gap with a nice transition from some of the overall concepts you may have learned from that particular story in your life, or that aspect of what you went through. Don’t worry if the story doesn’t relate directly to your product or service. Just write those stories down and start with the conflict.
Concept #3: Take your audience on a rollercoaster ride! Take your audience on a journey through your story so that they emotionally relax a little and dive back into those emotions that you’re feeling at the moment as well with your story. Don’t keep telling heavy content. Always remember where your audience is emotionally. If they’re down for too long then tell a little joke or something quirky that happened that’s related to your story to bring them back up a little. Then, you can take them back on that rollercoaster ride.
These three concepts and rules for building your story will create a deep impact with your audience whether it is one person or 1,000 people.
